Laksa Craving in Syawal

teringin betul nak makan laksa. nak buat sendiri tak reti. and niraku, if you're reading this, i can't wait for you to come and make your terrific signature laksa!

having had this crave for quite some time now, i was so glad to be invited for two raya open houses yesterday, promising laksa as one of the dishes. seri's house (who just came back from malaysia for raya) and the home of kak pah and haji syed sofi.

as usual, during any open house in dubai, it is great to find that your mutual friends are already there to share laughters and raya meals. among those were the As; aida and afza, with kak zaida and abg imran, as well as abe nik and eiyda. away from friends and families in malaysia, what better was to spend the remainings of syawal with new-found friends in dubai? it was like meeting old pals!

with tuan rumah, seri

i told seri, that she has made my dream menu! my long-craved laksa, and nasi tomato! i absolutely love nasi tomato above all nasi-nasi berperisa (this is before nasi mandi came to challenge its place!) with ayam merah tomato yang pedas sedang-sedang, just perfect for my taste-bud, complete with acar timun. perfecto!

what's your pick? laksa penang ada, laksa johor pun ada. my fav is of course nasi tomato!

man, i had a few helpings to fill my happy tummy! sedap sangat nasi tomato! thanks so much seri for a wonderful raya meal! also, for having the 'mini nursery' to occupy the kiddos. good thinking!

of course, the mandatory group photo was taken before everyone left. the ladies and the men, all with full tummies and happy smiles.

* * *

as evening crept in, we headed on to the next open house, rumah kak pah and haji syed sofi. the aroma of hot laksa greeted us as we entered with warm welcome from the tuan rumah who was still busy in the kitchen frying a fresh batch of cucur udang!

woah, cucur udang kak pah tu memang terbaik! cicah with homemade kuah kacang - excellent!


other than the awesomely fresh-fried cucur udang, there was also laksa of course, mee kari and roti jala. lemang dan rendang pun ada with bowls of raya cookies and crispy potato snacks.

while we enjoyed our raya dishes, the guests were 'entertained' by the karaoke singing of even tuan rumah haji syed sofi himself, singing the classics!


before leaving, kak pah insisted that there were more food than the remaining expected guests, so she suggested that we tapau some food! hmm, rezeki jangan ditolak! mr. khairul happily helped himself with some chicken curry and roti jala.


thanks kak pah for the delicious yummies and siap kasi tapau lagi!

most of all thanks for having your open houses so far later that we feel raya is still around despite already being at the end of syawal. hey wadaya know - i'm gonna miss raya this first-time raya in dubai!

* * *

dalam kemeriahan akhir syawal, tak lupa sedekahkan al-Fatihah kepada arwah abah fida, yang pulang ke rahmatullah pada 15 oct lepas. syukur fida dapat tiket balik malaysia hari tu jugak dan sempat kebumikan abahnya di sungkai, perak. to fida, sabar, tabah hati and jaga diri baik-baik ok. we're here for you when you return, if you wanna share. take care!

My Baby Sis Turns 23

it's azi's birthday!

nazirah sharifuddin is my youngest sister, a really special sibling in our family as her name is the only one without a syazrin at the beginning, aside from starting with an N instead of an S. after a string of syimee, syigim, syima and syida - why change to nazirah?

long story short - because she's special, (the only one constantly hugging mak's feet while watching tv) and turned out to be the last of sharifuddin sisters. and today she turns 23!

azi si kuntum bunga merah @ kindergarten

her laughter is something you better watch out for. tak lawak pun jadi lawak after hearing her laugh out loud. i remember syida referring to a movie, and telling me that i better watch it with azi to enjoy it better! this trait of bringing laughter wherever she goes makes her very likeable!

perhaps, being the youngest and thus (ulp) coolest (urk! ack!) azi is a hoot with her nieces and nephews. slumber parties, eating time or simply hangin out - the kids hover around her with shouts and screams and endless chatterings. even the most 'difficult' or them all, *sufya can have a jolly good time with her.

* i love to tease sufya as she is so malu with me, had never wanted to say even a single word to me and constantly looked at me with suspicious glances! haha.


as sisters, friends, persons - we both have little in common. our taste in movies, songs, books differ greatly. when i asked whether she has read my latest postings (masa tu on movie reviews), she'll casually answer, 'boring! movie yg yang tgk pun tak best je!'

ceh! but that's her! honest, with a pinch of sarcasm. and it really helps that she's funny with a pow-wow sense of humor. i'm proud to say that after two kids, i willingly abdicate from my 'family clown' throne and gave her the crown.

khaleef & his mak su

common interest or not, we have a close relationship bonded by 'time' and the experience we gained together during that time.

we've been through a lot together as somehow her being out of school after spm coincide with the time i just graduated and started my first job, in ipoh. yong is stayin at her place with her family just a few kilometers away, syima was still juggling microbs and ameabas at uitm and syida was still playin with numbers in um.

so, it was just the two of us, hangin around the ipoh house, with mak and abah.

after mak passed away just weeks before i was due to fly to melbourne, azi took her place and went with me and abah. mak was always in our minds throughout our time at the kangaroo land, but i was glad she was there with me, sharing laughter and sadness; silly jokes and serious heart-felt talk.

our time really intertwined for the best - again, a few months before i was due to fly dubai, we spent a lot of time together. she'd come over and we'd lunch and munch, or i would drove to upm and bring her kfc for berbuka. i don't think i ever told her this but i was really excited to bring her food or take her to places as i feel that i am really playing my part as the big sis.

us @ great ocean road

3, 23 or 32 - she'll always be my baby sister, and i would gladly bring her kfc anytime, anywhere (subject to availability of a car, kahfi tak meragam, duit ade lebih.. haha) have a happy birthday azi, and be good!

love always,
Yang.

Life of Pi the Movie?

imagine you're 16. you're ship-wrecked. everyone has died. you get on a boat. and there's a tiger with you. in the middle of nowhere. 227 days at sea. with a tiger. did i mention the man-eating tiger?

i've never heard of the author but i gave it a go. i really wanna know what happened to the boy! really, it is rare for me to read a book (by choice) by an author that i don't know of, writing about stuff i'm not interested in - unless it's for a class or work assignments - and most importantly unless it was suggested by a friend.

life of pi by canadian author yann martel came highly recommended by my friend haida. thanks girl! best decision i made about a book!


i read this book last year - and was reminded of its remarkable story when i came across a news bit about a planned movie version of 'life of pi' to be directed by academy award winner; ang lee who directed one of my fav movies of all time - 'sense and sensibility'. (bukan brokeback mountain ye hoho).

the story of the indian boy, pi is indeed a remarkable one. the son of a zookeeper, on a ship to canada, moving some of the animals there. the ship sinks, everyone dies except pi, who ends up in a lifeboat.

with him on the boat is an orang-utan, a zebra, a hyena - and a '450 pound royal bengal tiger'. eventually he is left alone with the tiger. yes. he is trapped in a boat, in the middle of the ocean; with a tiger - whose name is richard parker.

he was on the boat for approximately 227 days; surviving on food on the boat, and the must-work plan of providing for the tiger - like serving him fish, turtles and stuff, just so the tiger would not focus on him.

he needs to eat, he needs time to sleep. but these seemingly easy decisions in life are significantly different for this indian boy living on a boat with the most dangerous boatmate you can imagine! every choice he makes means life or death. one of the most important decisions and thoughts of all would be how not to get eaten by richard parker!


his thoughts and plans are put in simple short sentences, very easy to the eyes and mind. so lepak and macam takde ape-ape. it shows how trivial these plans should be - like when and what to eat for lunch - but to pi, these decisions come with the consideration of having a man-eating tiger with him!

you'd think it'd be boring - like the soundless adventure of tom hanks in 'cast away'. however the masterful storytelling of yann martel keeps the story of pi's long voyage moving at an interesting pace.

i can't really put a theme it - adventure? spiritual? come-off-age tale? animal story? great huge metaphor of life's simplest decisions that we take for granted? comedy, action too! it's got a little bit of everything...

* * *

'life of pi' could easily just be an action-adventure with a pinch of dark humor thrown in - but yann martel made it philosophical and spiritual with the plot at the beginning where a young pi grows older, thus more curious and inquisitive - about god.

brought up as a hindu, he slowly found interest in christianity, going to church aside from his usual temple time, praying like both a christian when in church and a hindu when at the temple. then he discovered islam, and then started to pray 5 times a day as well, while continuing his pious activity with his two previous religions.

when the monk, the priest and the imam discovered this 'atrocity', they confronted pi's parents, demanding that pi chooses only one of the religions. in the effort to convince pi, they ended up poking fun at each other's religion - showing weaknesses, rather than showing the young indian boy the beauty of each own's religion (which reminds me of malaysia political scene).

pi simply said, he just wants to love god. and this great, unfaltering 'faith' would prove a huge help as he bobbed alone in the boat with the tiger.

* * *

i'm really interested to see how ang lee is going to go about it - as 'life of pi' contains endless soliloquy - pi's conversation with himself, his solo narration of the daily happenings while alone and tryin to survive with a tiger on the same boat. i mean, in a book - the thoughts, the feelings - it's all there to be read. but in a movie, it's gotta be expressed differently.

'life of pi' the movie needs one helluva good acting.

also in the news bit is that m. night shyamalan (who directed the awesome sixth sense) was also approached to direct 'life of pi' but decided against it on the consideration that the viewers who have read the book would already anticipate the twist at the end. (kan shyamalan punya signature kan movie dia mesti ade twist at the end yang tak disangka-sangka. kalo org dah tau tak best lah)

what's the twist? memang gile. when i was reading it, i was like - woahhhhh. you should go grab 'life of pi' to find out!

Born 3 Years Ago : Sufya!

happy birthday! suffiya syafeeqah turns 3 today! suffiya, or simply sufya or nak lagi comel; cuya is:

• my sis syima's eldest daughter
• abah's first grand-daughter, fourth grandchild
  
• my first niece
• khaleef & kahfi's cousin
• new baby marissa marha's eldest sis

enjoy these yearly shots of khaleef and sufya that i found here and there.

khaleef & sufya @ 2007

khaleef & sufya @ 2008

khaleef & sufya @ 2009

have a beautiful cake, to go along with a beautiful birthday. nanti auntie gim balik lagi skali, tak bleh malu-malu lagi ok!

To the Sharifuddin Sisters

untitled
by syigim

so far, so long, a million of mile,
someone, somewhere dreams of a smile,
i look for ants to keep myself busy,
i wouldn't i won't miss them like crazy.

each night, each noon, each minute of day,
i long for their chats, their talk, their say,
their face in my eyes, their voice in my mind,
another same company, nowhere can i find.

the first is feminine, a teacher so sweet,
but wait till you hear, wait till you meet,
her nuna is chubby, cute and cuddly,
with the H brothers so loud and ever so bubbly.

no words can describe, no vocab too fit,
the second is bursting with charm and great wit,
weirdo no doubt, wacky most certainly,
without her the party of 5 would be gloomy.

the brain of the 5 is in the middle
a princess she has, no wait, she got a couple,
she's the mami jarum too, the gossip queen
sharing things that she heard, things that she's seen.

the fourth one is doing 'time' down under,
a student, a tourist, a traveler, an adventurer,
on trains, on busses, on trams and on foot,
an attitude she has and a smart head to boot.

the clown in the family is the little one,
funny, cheery, lots of laugh, lots of fun,
though youngest she is, the tallest of all,
with her in the 5 life's really quite a ball!

today, tomorrow, for the rest of the year,
i count, i wait for the day to come near,
more gifts more souvenir, more goodies to pack,
another flight home, another trip back.

star light star bright, i wish i might,
see them soon, and the 5 will unite,
friends, buddies, sisters at most,
without them i'll surely be at a lost!

* * *

teringat kat uia, we were analysing a poem about loss, and missing someone. kehilangan. kerinduan. when my lecturer asked, "what is the theme of the poem?" and picked one guy from the lot. he answered, rather unsurely -

"err. the theme of the poem...is...missing."

missing? ilang ke mane? haha. ok enough iklan.

miss you, sis!

Agent Darwin, Sir Despereaux & Manny the Mammoth

time to watch animated features yang telah dimuat-turun. khaleef had been playing the x-box version of 'g-force', 'ice-age' and 'up' for the longest time - but the poor kid has never seen any one of the movies!

so there i was, the ever-supporting mak, happily watching the movies with him, being an animated feature slash cartoon myself. oh, man. name any classic disney movies, chances are i should at least know one of the many wonderful engaging songs in them!

* * *

the annoying hamster in bolt can learn a thing or two from this super-cool bunch. james bond slash mission impossible meets fuzzy cutesies. there's nothing more adorable than an obviously adorable little fuzzy creature, posing as a dare-devil secret agent up to secure a dangerous mission.

darwin is the new james! and agent juarez is a babe!

as animals i could never understand hamsters. cats, yes. they have facial expression (they do! - even if it's just one - the i-don't-give-a-damn look) they act out their wants and needs. but hamsters - well, do they even know we're there, looking into their cage?

* * *

i LOVE this one. opens with an amazing credit graphic - followed by a crisp clear narration from sigourney weaver. and you know how i love movies with narration! add a couple of french and brit accent, princess in distress, knights, unlikely heroes, fantasy made-up world (mouseworld and ratworld) and an inexplicable fierce passion for something unlikely - soup.

oh, yes. don't you feel like grabbing a bowl of hot mushroom soup as you watch the first part of the movie?

watching it again and again just adds to the fun of spotting and matching the famous voices behind the endearing characters (and this movie has a lot of them) - matthew broderick, 'hermione granger's' emma watson, dustin hoffman, 'dr. emmet brown's' christopher lloyd, tracie ullman, kevin kline, william h. macy, richard jenkins and the recent oscar best actor nominee frank langella!

the animation is beautiful, the colors brilliantly smooth to the eyes. this one goes into my fav list!

* * *

manny, sid and diego were funnier when they still find each other annoying. ice age 2 were boring already - why bother with a third? i guess they have their groupies. like i still find toy story 3 funny as the first - and that's hard to find - most of the time (and it's like a curse, and applies mostly to cartoons and some movies) the second, third and subsequent movies that follow always suck.

however, i have to admit adding the dinos make it slightly better than the 2nd. really. maybe coz khaleef loves anything with dinosaurs in it.

oh, and scrat the 'saber-toothed squirrel' is at least, still entertaining.

* * *

no, i haven't seen 'cloudy with a chance of meatballs', so stop asking. and you, stop bragging about how cute it is - coz i've seen the previews! (honey, cepat balik kita gi tengok kat ibn battuta!)

but what i am really disappointed about is missing afdlin shauki's latest masterpiece that won him the best actor award in the recent festival filem malaysia - 'papadom', which also grabbed the best movie award. i LOVE all his movies. isk isk. afdlin bawak la movie papadom ke dubai...ok from now on, no one mention papadom. stop. ahp! no. na-ah. makan popadam pun tak bley!

hmmph!

Birthdays, New Job & Exams

good news, good week, good anticipation for my cousins, my sis-in-law and both my youngest sisters.

* * *

siti & wani

looks like there's a number of october babies - on the 2nd and 6th of this month, it's happy, happy birthday to my cousins wani and her younger sister siti, both daughters of my mak's sister, cik. more october babies coming soon!

* * *

tina with nephew khaleef

mr. khairul's sister started her new job for about one week already now. have fun and don't forget to save your pay for khaleef and kahfi's next year duit raya!

* * *

azi & syida

days of cramming in the middle of the night and noon, surrounding yourself with piles of book just so you wouldn't feel guilty - it's the exam week for my sisters syida and azi! good luck girls! i hate this week the most as you guys would be too busy to go online!

oh, as we're still on the exam bit - best of luck also to my cousin nadhirah on her PMR. hey, it's just a stepping stone to choose a stream next year, so take it easy! you'll sail thru!

cepatlah korang abis exam... my yahoo messenger is so sunyi sepi...